Saturday, February 16, 2013

Exercise YOUR Freedom of Speech! #NoMas

In our country I think we often take our various freedoms for granted. Sure, our country is far from perfect, but when you take into consideration the oppression, censorship and other tragedies that others face around the world, I'd say we have it pretty good. Our freedom of expression is one freedom that I'm sure many of us forget how blessed we are. Like this blog for
instance. It's where I exercise my freedom of expression and speech by giving my opinions of various products. I take this job
very seriously and let you know my honest opinions because everyone
deserves to receive and hear authentic feedback before they buy. In the grand scheme of things, this is just a measly little example, but I have the right to my opinions, and YOU have the
right to yours also and that's what's important.

Over the last few years especially, I have learned from others (who were also expressing themselves thanks to our freedom) to question the norms, to question what is politically correct or acceptable, and to develop my own beliefs and opinions.There are many, many things I could say "No Mas" to as a result, like No Mas Abortion and No Mas Circumcision. These are hot button issues that I feel strongly about all the time, but recently this one really struck a cord since I'm on a daily journey towards better health through my diet.

No Mas Junk Food - by that I mean all the artificial crap in our foods that slips by despite being filled with toxic chemicals. And that could mean lots of things for different people, but for me I would start with No Mas GMO's, and allartificial ingredients, flavors and colors. I feel like I'm dodging bullets when I walk into a grocery store! We have to start somewhere and our health is worth it, right? I hope to live to see the day where our food supply is far better than what it is today for the sake of my son and future generations.

Because of our freedom of expression, I can say something like No Mas Junk Food without fear of getting locked up for instance. And just as I showed my support for a Yes on Prop 37 to label GMOs this last election, I can continue to voice my opinion because of that same freedom of expression that we all have in our country. Unfortunately that can't be said for every person around the world. Just take a quick look at why these individuals are in prison:

Nabeel Rajab is serving time for posting anti-government comments on Twitter in addition to instigating and participating in peaceful gatherings considered to be illegal by the Bahraini government. He is a prominent Bahraini human rights activist whose freedom has been compromised. Bahrain is fighting words with weapons by imprisoning citizens for tweeting!

Marcos Máiquel Lima Cruz is in jail because a song’s lyrics criticized the lack of freedom of expression in Cuba. He was imprisoned with his brother who was recently released.

I can't even begin to imagine being locked up for such silly reasons. But can exercising our freedom of expression still be called silly? To me this shows the power that freedom of expression can have and what a right and privilege it should be to say what we want, whenever we want. Through organizations like TakePart.com we can speak up for others who are
living in nations that silence any opposition to the establishment. Together we can stand up for the freedom of political expression by signing petitions to set these victims free.

Our world has evolved thanks to the words “No Mas" and the individuals and groups that have stood strong for their right to express themselves. Be sure to check out the video above to see how these iconic protests have impacted our world. We can impact the lives of these victims if we stand together too!

More Ways To Get Involved...

Create Your Own "No Mas" Badge - I'd love to hear what you would like to say No Mas to. You can even create and share your own badge! It can be serious, silly or light-hearted - whatever comes to mind in the name of freedom of expression. Leave a comment and tell me what you would like to say "No Mas" to!

Join in the Conversation - Every Monday in February at 11am PST you can join @TakePart for a live Twitter chat with celebrities, experts and activists as they explore the issue of free speech. Follow @TakePartand use #NoMas to ask your questions.

Instead of silence, let us speak up and turn our hopes into action for a better tomorrow. Let us not be silent!

Disclosure: This article is sponsored by Linqia. This is my completely honest opinion above and may be different from yours.

6
comments:

Interesting campaign! And I agree with no mas junk food! I am on a mission this year to eat more healthy which includes starting my own garden, eating natural meats by local farmers, natural eggs, etc.

No Mas Junk Food! It is getting harder and harder to keep my daughter's diet free of all that junk since her little friends all eat that stuff. She doesn't expect it at home, but at their house she gets loaded up.

What a fun No Mad campaign! Love it. I was also in support of Prop 37 to label GMOs. I think it is important that we know what is in the food so we can steer clear if we so choose! I'm working on doing more natural foods. Not no sugar, but have more made from scratch versus store purchased processed foods. I feel such a huge difference in my health when I do.